# 2002–03 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Ed Schilling.

## Season Summary

Following consecutive fourth-place finishes, the 2002-03 Raiders won only four Horizon League games, stumbling through a 1-6 stretch near the end of the year that was largely uncompetitive. Reportedly Coach Schilling himself was questioning whether his team had quit on the season.
It was the sort of season that gets a coach fired. The team could shoot, but it was small and overwhelmed many nights. Attendance had dropped off about 2,000 fans a night from the highs during the 90's, and was trending down. All three freshman recruits were unavailable because two quit before the season began and a third was injured. The junior college transfers made only modest contributions to the cause. While Schilling had incentives in his contract to stay among the top 150 programs in the country (roughly the top half), the Raiders were reported to be 230th in the nation.

### Aftermath

Ed Schilling was fired at the end of the season with three years remaining on his contract. "Private funds" were to pay the remainder he was owed. He had been brought in to follow the legendary Ralph Underhill, and he embraced the herculean task of producing a top 50 program with top 40 attendance. This perhaps unrealistic goal was again mentioned after his dismissal.
The swarm of players quitting the team, or in some cases dismissed from it, was not unexpected during the transition to a new coach, but instead of abating it became a yearly theme. Not every player who left was a big contributor, but it became a troubling pattern. Whether it was bad luck or poor recruiting, it looked bad. In the end, 25 players had left the Raiders program with eligibility remaining in just six seasons.

### Roster Changes
#### Joining

* Trent Vaughn (F) a junior college 3-point shooter from Itawamba.
* Lloyd Walls (C) a junior college post player from Ivine Valley College.
* Drew Burleson (F) recruited from Wheelersburg unfortunately began his college career with ankle surgery.

#### Leaving

* Mark Surgalski was recruited out of Ashland, Kentucky; but did not start school in September.
* Donta Patterson was recruited out of Columbus Brookahaven; but left the team citing burnout before the season began.
* Malcolm Andrews was dismissed from the team in February. The family and the school shared differing versions of the events with the local media.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 23, 2002* | | Akron | W 78-75 | 1–0 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 26, 2002* | | Cedarville | W 85-64 | 2-0 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 30, 2002* | | Miami Ohio | W 51-48 | 3–0 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 4, 2002* | | Morehead State | W 80–74 | 4–0 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 7, 2002* | | at Ball State | L 59-66 | 4–1 | University Arena Muncie, IN |
| Dec 11, 2002* | | Toledo | L 84-98 | 4–2 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 14, 2002* | | South Florida | W 69-68 | 5–2 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 17, 2002* | | vs. Manhattan Billy Minardi Classic | L 74-76 | 5–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 18, 2002* | | vs. Eastern Kentucky Billy Minardi Classic | W 75-61 | 6–3 | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| Dec 30, 2002* | | at Santa Clara | L 67-71 | 6–4 | Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA |
| Jan 5, 2003 | | at Loyola | L 56-67 | 6-5 (0–1) | Gentile Event Center Chicago, IL |
| Jan 9, 2003 | | Detroit Mercy | W 67–64 | 7-5 (1–1) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 11, 2003 | | at Cleveland State | L 52-55 | 7-6 (1–2) | CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, OH |
| Jan 13, 2003 | | at Youngstown State | L 60-66 | 7-7 (1-3) | Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH |
| Jan 16, 2003 | | Butler | L 70-81 | 7–8 (1–4) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 23, 2003 | | at Green Bay | L 67-69 | 7-9 (1–5) | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, WI |
| Jan 25, 2003 | | at Milwaukee | L 59-74 | 7-10 (1–6) | Klotsche Center Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 29, 2003 | | UIC | L 76-89 | 7-11 (1–7) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 1, 2003 | | Youngstown State | W 80-68 | 8-11 (2–7) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 5, 2003 | | at UIC | L 62-77 | 8-12 (2–8) | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Feb 8, 2003 | | Loyola | L 69-71 | 8-13 (2–9) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 13, 2003 | | at Detroit Mercy | L 63–68 | 8-14 (2–10) | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Feb 15, 2003 | | Cleveland State | W 76-63 | 9-14 (3–10) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 20, 2003 | | at Butler | L 64-79 | 9-15 (3–11) | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis |
| Feb 22, 2003* | | Fort Wayne | L 61-84 | 9-16 | Fort Wayne, IN |
| Feb 27, 2003 | | Milwaukee | L 65-98 | 9-17 (3-12) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Mar 1, 2003 | | Green Bay | W 77-74 | 10-17 (4–12) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 2003 | (8) | at (5) Detroit Mercy First Round | L 61-78 | 10-18 | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

| Seth Doliboa | MVP |
| Tyson Freeman | Raider Award |
| Seth Doliboa | First Team All Horizon League |

## Statistics

| Number | Name | Games | Average | Points | Assists | Rebounds |
| 15 | Seth Doliboa | 28 | 22.3 | 625 | 37 | 211 |
| 00 | Vernard Hollins | 28 | 19.9 | 557 | 115 | 159 |
| 12 | Tyson Freeman | 26 | 7.8 | 202 | 39 | 46 |
| 3 | Braden Bushman | 28 | 5.3 | 149 | 40 | 69 |
| 33 | Trent Vaughn | 23 | 5.0 | 115 | 8 | 70 |
| 13 | Joe Bills | 28 | 3.3 | 92 | 55 | 34 |
| 40 | Thomas Hope | 28 | 2.8 | 79 | 18 | 127 |
| 14 | Malcolm Andrews | 20 | 2.5 | 49 | 16 | 11 |
| 21 | Mark Starkey | 22 | 0.9 | 19 | 6 | 31 |
| 43 | Lloyd Walls | 22 | 0.8 | 18 | 7 | 25 |
| 32 | Jeremey Willis | 5 | 0.4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Source